Group A

The hosts are the clear favourites to qualify and top the group. The French are formidable on home turf, lifting the World Cup last time an international competition came to France.

Switzerland are expected to also qualify, having enjoyed the best form in qualification out of the other three sides. Despite lacking the household names that France and Switzerland have, Romania did finish qualification without losing a single game, registering 5 draws and 5 wins.

Group C

World Cup winners Germany are the tournament favourites, and should coast through the group with little trouble.

Following their jaw dropping destruction of Brazil the Germans beat Leo Messi’s Argentina in the final, and saw the fruition of a carefully implemented youth development strategy that begun over a decade before.

Northern Ireland will undoubtedly struggle against them, and the strong Ukrainian and Polish sides. With the awesome Robert Lewandowski leading the line, Poland are the bookies favourites to qualify alongside Germany.

Group E

On paper Group E looks easy to predict, with Belgium and Italy expected to dominate proceedings, however with the ever lethal Zlatan Ibrahimovic heading for what looks like his final international tournament, and the surprising Republic of Ireland side there is always potential for an upset.

Group F

With Cristiano Ronaldo leading the Portuguese attack they will always pose a threat, however the Madrid star has a habit of going missing in key games, and Group F is perhaps the most open in the competition.

Austria were unbeaten in qualification and finished an impressive 8 points clear in the group, while Iceland finished ahead of Turkey and the Netherlands in Group A.

Hungary, who reached the finals through the play offs are the bookies outsiders, and will be hard pressed to break out of Group F.

Betting

With the groups now drawn it’s a great time to wager on some of the outsiders, before the competition gets started and odds begin to change.

While football betting remains a difficult prospect, a 4 fold of Iceland, Croatia, Wales and Poland to qualify gives 4/1 odds and would bring a £53 return from a £10 stake.